One Bright Day In The Middle Of The Night
by DangerousDream
Summary: Behind every betrayal, there is love. Behind every dead girl, there is sight. Behind every murder, there is a carefully planned cover up. Claire supposes it's a gift, but she didn't ask for it. Now, she must find out what really happened to Alyssa Collins before her own time runs out.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay guys, so I'm starting yet another Morganville story. The main themes of this story are fictional violence and paranormal events, so if you are sensitive to either of these events then don't read it. I know it'll sound crazy by the end, but it's all based on a real life story that happened to my best friend, this is dedicated to Beth.**

_One bright day in the middle of the night,_

_Two dead boys got up to fight,_

_Back to back, they faced eachother_

_Drew their swords and shot another,_

_The deaf policeman heard the noise,_

_And ran to save those two dead boys,_

_If you don't believe this lie is true,_

_Then ask the blind man,_

_He saw it too..._

Everyone cheered as we popped open a bottle of champagne We'd done it! We'd defeated the draugh, once and for all. Never again would I have to see Magnus's patronizing face. I leaned into Shane as Michael poured us all a glass. Tonight was a special kind of celebration, even Amelie, Myrnin and Oliver were joining in with the festivities. That alone said it all.

I still found i hard to get around what happened with the draug and so did Shane. I was _dead, _and yet, somehow, I was still here. That was due to Myrnin's crazy science knowledge and my eagerness to stay human, of course, but still. Shane himself had nearly died at the hands of the draug too.

It was all over now, though. A sense of relief and general happiness was washing over all of us, even Amelie, who was sipping her drink and laughing with Myrnin. We all passed around drinks, including Oliver, who didn't argue that we were underage for a change. They vampires, (excluding Michael, of course) don't stay for that long, leaving just after midnight. But then again, this wasn't the end for them. In the morning, they'd have to get up and start building this wreckage of a town back up again.

"Let's watch a film or something," Eve offers when everyone feels a bit tipsy, and we all accept. Trying to find a film that everyone wants to watch takes longer than actually watching it, though, but eventually we can decide on final destination. I'm not sure which one it is, but it starts with a man having a premonition of a car crash.

When the car crash is over, I feel a sinking feeling in my chest and my stomach turns. I don't know why, but the idea of having a premonition terrifies me. My legs start to tingle, and I have to get up and go somewhere.

"I'm cold," I announce, making something up so that I have an excuse to go upstairs on my own, "I'll go grab a blanket,"

As I leave the room, Eve calls out to me, "Can you get my phone while you're there please? It's on charge in my room," I nod at her and she grimaces back at me. I almost laugh, she's clearly not enjoying the film either although I'm sure it's for different reasons.

As I head upstairs, an overwhelming sense of uneasiness over comes me. Something is wrong in the house, I can feel it. I just can't put my finger on it and figure out what it is. I begin to speed up, the quicker I get the blanket and Eve's phone, the quicker I can get away from this horrible feeling. I go to my bedroom at the end of the hall and rush in. I slam open the draws, looking around inside of it for my purple fleece blanket that I love so much. That's when I feel a breeze rush past me and something, or someone, blurs past me at the edge of my vision. My window is open, I don't remember opening it.

_No, dont be stupid, _I tell myself, _you must have opened it._

I'm only going to make myself more scared if I think stuff like that. I'm a bit drunk, and now I'm seeing things that aren't there, that's more likely and understandable than anything else. Even in Morganville, random ghosts don't come into random people's houses, open windows and rush past for no reason. That doesn't happen.

_Maybe it does, _I think before I stop myself, _You were a ghost once, too._

That's when I hear something at the end of the hallway. The ghost, or whatever it is, is saying something. I think it''s talking to me. I take a deep breath and edge slowly towards the door. One foot in front of the other, like a baby, as I force myself forwards. I peer around the edge of the door and see nothing. I relax a little bit, of course, there's nothing there. I start heading towards Eve's room to get her phone when I am stopped dead in my tracks at what is standing staring right at me...

She's a girl. Or atleast, I think so, I can't see that much of her. She's covered in deep red blood from head to toe, her white dress is torn and worn out. Her feet are bare and her legs are scratched and dotted with bruises. Her hair is curly, but it is wet with blood and as if it hasn't been brushed for years. The girl is freakishly pale, paler than the vampires, definitly. Whoever she is, she looks like she could have jumped straight out of a Stephen King novel. Her neck is at a weird angle, and that is when I realise that she's dead. Nobody alive has a neck like that.

I can't help the scream that comes out of my mouth. My hearts starts racing and I am frozen stiff with fear. I curl my fingers into me instinctively.

"You can see me!" The girl cries in delight, jumping up and down clapping her hands, "You can see me!" She rushes over to me so quickly that I barely even see her move. She puts her hands on my shoulders warily and I nearly start to cry when I realise that she can touch me. She shakes me back and forth like a rag doll, while mindlessly chanting her mantra, repeating it over and over.

I look over and see my roomates bounding up the stairs, obviously concerned because I screamed. Michael is first, with his vampire speed and all. He's closely followed by Shane and Eve who have a expression of fear on their faces.

"Shane..." The ghost girl mutter sadly, turning her crooked neck to watch my boyfriend rushing up the stairs and towards me. The girl steps away from me, leaving room for my friends to crowd around me, looking terrified.

"Claire, what's wrong?" Michael asks, "You look like you've seen a ghost" I almost laugh at that one.

I point towards the girl, who is pressed up against the wall, looking timid and as innocent as a ghost covered in blood can look. All 3 of my roommates turn to look at her and they quickly turn back towards me. I expect them to look terrified, but they don't. They look... Confused.

"They can't see me," the girl whispers and I see a tear fall down her face, "Only you can,"

Eve puts her arms around me, "I'm never letting you drink again..." she laughs nervously and that's when I realise that I'm shaking and I feel very weak. My knees feel like their going to collapse.

"She might have alcohol poisoning," Shane reasons, taking the blanket from my hands and wrapping it around my shoulders. I ignore them talking about me, I'm only focused on the girl. Now that I'm panicking at the very sight of her, I realise that she looks familiar, though I can't for the life of me place her.

"Who are you?" I ask out loud, earning some weird looks from my friends. The girl bows her head and takes a deep breath that she doesn't need. She looks up at me.

"My name..." She sighs, "Is Alyssa," I feel myself go dizzy and start to fall. Arms, probably Michael's, catch me but they don't stop everything around me from turning black.

**I hope that was okay, please read and review. It makes me write faster. No, seriously, it does. **


	2. Chapter 2

I can''t help but gag, I feel sick at the thought of it. Eve waves the boys off and takes me to the bathroom where I empty my stomach. Maybe they're right, maybe I'm just drunk. I could have believed that, except for the fact that throwing up doesn't make the ache inside of me any better and that _I just got freaking visited by the ghost of my boyfriend's dead sister. _

"It's okay, Claire," Eve mutters, holding my hair back.

"She's supposed to be dead!" I cry, my words slurring from the alcohol.

"Shhh," Eve soothes, "I know, I know," She's not listening to me, and I don't blame her. I sound so drunk right now that it's no surprise that she doesn't believe a word I say. If I told anyone I'd probably get myself driven off to the nearest mental institution in about 5 seconds flat.

_I need to calm down, _I tell myself,_ you don't even know if it is Alyssa Collins, there's probably lots of Alyssa's in Morganville. _Even as I say it, however, I know that it's very unlikely. Firstly, Alyssa isn't that popular for a name. Secondly, she looked like she recognized Shane and said his name. Thirdly, why would a random ghost visit _me_, of all people? And why could I see her but nobody else could? None of it makes sense.

I'm not quite sure how I got there but I find myself in bed. Eve probably took me in there and I never even noticed. I hear some quiet talking coming through down the hall, but it's all blurred out by now. I hear them all saying goodnight and heading into their different rooms. I wait for 5 or so minutes before starting to sob. I cry because I saw Alyssa, I cry because I feel sick, I cry becase I was too drunk to get myself to bed. Eventually, I cry just for the sake of crying. I gradually drift off to sleep with my pillow still soaked from tears.

_I look around at the street I'm in, it looks familiar. I think I've been here before, but I can't remember exactly where I am. It's midnight and except for the orange-tinted glow being emited from a far away street lamp, it's pitch black. The wind is whipping and howling so I conclude that it's winter. My idea is proved accurate when a billow of warm air comes from my mouth._

_That's when I realise that I'm in danger. I must be in Morganville somewhere and I don't think I have a weapon or anything to protect myself. I will myself to run, to go home, even if I have no idea where that is in my current state of mind. I shiver and start to look down at myself. I'm wearing a black coat with black pants and gloves. _

_None of my skin is showing except for a flutter of metal on my wrist. It's a protection bracelet, and for a few seconds I'm confused. It should be gold with a sun charm on it, not silver with a moon engraved into it. That's when it's comes to me that it's not Amelie's, it's Brandon's. _

_When did I start taking protection from Brandon? _

_That's when I realise that I'm not in my body. I'm in someone elses, a boy's based on the clothes and large hands. I watch as I, whoever I am, start to slowly look down at the ground. I see a black bag on the floor and hear myself gasp before I conciously figure out what it actually, but when I do, I regret it. Its a body bag._

_I want to run. Stratch that, I want to go home. I want to be back in my own body, at home with Shane and Eve and Michael. I definitly don't want to be standing in the street in the middle of the night holding a body bag._

_I can't control my limbs and I lift the body bag back up again and start pulling it down the street. It's only light so I conclude that whatever is inside is either a child or a very thin woman. Neither are particually nice options. Soon enough, I get to a small woods and I walk into with silent tears rushing down my face. It's nice to know that whoever I am feels remorse for what he has done._

_I dump the bag between a bush and a tree where it's not visible unless you were extremly observant. I run to the end of the woods, where the blankets of trees meet the rough city landscape before turning back to the woods and the secret it holds before whispering a single word:_

_"Sorry."_

I wake up gasping for breath in my own bed again. What the hell was that? It was like a dream but it felt like I was really there. I can't believe I just watched some hiding a body. I especially can't believe that I watched it in a dream, either. It was just so realistic. It must be real. It has to mean something, at least.

I roll over, tugging the blankets and I flinch when I feel something sharp underneath me. I slide away the covers slowly, dreading what the _thing _is that's in my bed. I see a flash of silver and realise with a horrible sinking feeling that it's a knife. For a few seconds, I think that there is blood on it but it fades away. I think I hear footsteps on the floor outside my door and panic that someone is coming in. I instinctively grab the knife and stick it under the mattress before breathing a sigh of relief, nobody will find it there.

I lie in bed staring at the ceiling with a dry throat and banging headache, wondering what the dream meant and how the knife got there. It's only after a few minutes that I start to smell bacon and realise that it must be sometime in the morning now, and lying in bed thinking about a dream isn't going to help me much at all. So I peel away the blankets and open the window in my bedroom.

The sun is seeping in, a dramatic difference to the relentless rain that came with the draug. It's hot, even for June and as cliche as it sounds, the birds are singing sweetly outside the window. If I can forget about the dream for just a few hours, today probably would be a great day. I head downstairs and burst into kitchen to see my roomates passing around coffee and taking it in turns to make breakfast.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Eve says chipperly, "What do you want for breakfast? Coffee? Aspirin?"

"Both," I reply groggily and everyone has a little giggle at my misfortune. I laugh along with them, pushing the events of last night out of my mind. It's probably no big deal anyway. After breakfast, I race Eve to the bathroom and win, for the first time in ages. After a long shower, I put on a pair of grey skinny jeans and a white flowly top. I let my hair fall loose and put on a bit of concealer to cover up the bags under my eyes. I don't look great, but at least I look somewhat alive.

I mess around with my shoes in front of the door, trying to find a pair of silver sandals that I haven't worn for months. As I'm doing that, strong hands come up behind me and wrap around my waist. For a second, I internally freak out, thinking that it could be Alyssa, before remembering that Shane's there. I momentarily sink into his warm arms and consider not going to class today, but my attendence is awful as it is, I can't afford any more 'sick days'.

"Do you really have to go?" Shane moans quietly into my shoulder.

"Unfortunatly, I do," I reply back to him, finally finding my shoes and slipping them on. I give him a quick kiss and say, "I love you, I'll be back before you know it,"

I shut the front door behind me and walk off towards the university for a _fun _day of physics, quantam mechanics and literature.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry, it's a bit of a boring chapter. But believe me when I say that this one of the most important chapters in the story, and when you figure out what's really going on, you'll notice all the clues in this chapter. That's all I'm gonna say ;)**

"When the two particles hit, a gamma ray is emitted at a 180 degree angle" the teacher droned on with a monotone voice that made him sound as bored as I was. I didn't want to sound vain, but this stuff was child's play compared to what I do in the lab with Myrnin. I opened my book to the page we were supposed to be reading and rested my head in my hands.

"A what ray?" I heard Gina ask loudly and the teacher sighed as he walked over the the white board and attempted for the 3rd time to explain was a PET scan was. I chuckled inwardly and stared out of the window, day dreaming about when the bell would ring and I could go home to my boyfriend and two best friends.

Suddenly, I heard a voice I didn't really recognise calling me from the back of the classroom, "Claireeee!" it wailed. I span around to find where it was coming from. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just Gina being her dumb self, a stressed teacher and a classroom of bored students. The bell rang and I jumped out of my skin and started packing my things away.

_'You can't see me, so don't bother looking', _the voice called over the commotion of the class.

"What do you want?" I ask out loud, getting another crazy look from a boy sitting next to me who packed away his stuff quickly and hurried out of the room.

_'Monica's going to try and attack you after class', _they - whoever they were - told me. I concluded that they were a girl, because their voice was too high pitched to be a boy, too mature to be a child.

"I have the founder's protection," I laughed. Monica wouldn't threaten Amelie. Would she? Then it hit me that this was Monica Morrell, and her brother was chief of police so she could get away with whatever she wanted. Besides, Amelie's protection only protected me from being killed, not from being hurt. So as long as Monica didn't _intend _to kill me, she was considered innocent.

_'Just trust me, I'll tell you what to do', _the voice told me. I realised with a start that even though I didn't know who the voice was, I was going to trust her. Damn, I'm going to do what the voices in my head tell me to... Isn't this how all horror movies start? Somehow, I knew that I could trust the girl.

"Excuse me?" I heard someone ask, "Miss Danvers, class is finished," The teacher and the boy that heard me talking to myself were staring down at me wildly. I snapped out of own world and realised that the bell must have rung about 5 minutes ago. Oh god, I can't believe I just did that. My cheeks flared bright red and I bowed my head. Great, they thought I was crazy. Right now, I couldn't help but think that it could be the truth.

"Sorry, I was distracted," I apologised quickly, throwing my books carelessly into my backpack, not really caring about it being neat right now. I swung my old ragged backpack onto my back, hearing the fabric rip a little from being strained with so many heavy books. I started heading out of the room, taking a quick glance back as I left. Both the teacher and the boy were standing a good few feet away from where I had sat previously and they both had terrified looks in the eyes.

Great, they definitely thought I losing my marbles now.

_'Go to courtyard', _she said. I nodded and concentrated on putting on foot in front of the other as I pushed my way through the crowd of students that were either going to class or trying to get away from class. I sighed and let out a deep breath when I reached the courtyard. Here, it was quieter. There were only a few students sitting at picnic tables, chatting and eating lunch. A few were just passing by, of course, but it was basically empty.

_'Here she comes', _the voice told me again. I almost hesitated as I turned around, since when did I listen to a voice in my head that probably didn't exist? Since now, I guess. I span quickly on my heels and smiled. Sure enough, within matters of seconds, Monica and her goonies where heading my way.

"Hey, nerd!" Monica called at me, my friendly smile dropping off of my face quickly.

I growled, "What do you want now?"

"I just need help with homework," Monica flashed me a transparent, sickly sweet smile, "Follow me..." She turned and span, hair dramatically spraying out in all directions. Gina and Jennifer were right behind her, flicking their hair and shaking their butts as they walked.

_'She's lying, stay where you are' _the voice called and I could hear the fear and anger in them as they spoke. Whoever they were, they didn't trust Monica Morrell, that's for sure. Even the voices in my head were a better judge of character than me. Sigh.

It took Monica a few seconds of her striding away for her to momentarily turn around and realise that I wasn't following her like a lost puppy. It was almost comical to watch her do a double take and spin to my face me. Like always, Gina and Jennifer followed behind her, just with a second or two delay. Monica started storming towards me looking like she could have murdered someone.

"I said..." She sithed angrily, "Follow me, Freak!" Ouch, I can't say the freak bit didn't hurt. I'd already heard it a thousand times before of course, so I managed to stay unemotional and didn't even flinch as she hissed at me like an angry kitten. Compared to the wrath of vampires such as Bishop, Oliver, Myrnin or Amelie, did she think she could hurt me.

_'She trying to trick you, Claire Bear, I mean- Claire. Call her out on her lies, tell her you know what she's doing,' _The voice paused on the nickname that Eve always called me, but I didn't catch onto it until later. I was more focused on getting out of Monica's way.

"You're lying," I state simply, "I know what you're going to do," I couldn't help but wince inwardly at the fact that _I _was the one lying now. I had no idea what she was going to do, at all. Better yet, my only source came from a voice in my head. Believable story.

Monica paused for a second in shock, not long but long enough for me to confirm my belief that she had an ulterior motive, "Yes, what I'm going to do is get a nerd to finish my homework for me. It's not a crime is it?" then her tone became dark, "What did you _think_ I was going to do?"

"Actually it's a case of fraud, and it may not be a crime but it could get your work from the last two years disqualified and you could possibly be expelled," I said manner of factly.

"Bitch, please, they wouldn't expell me," Monica tossed her hair over her shoulder and fluttered her fake eyelashes, "I'm the best thing going for this god damn school," The last part a complete and utter lie, of course. But she was right about one thing; they wouldn't expell her. Monica's father, the mayor, funded the whole school. It would take a little push at Amelie, of course, but he could get the school shut down easily, and considering most of the teachers were Morganville citizens themselves (and thats before you consider the blood rules and the amount of profit the university brings in), it really would trigger a downward spiral for the whole town.

I swallowed nervously, feeling sheepish and stupid. I didn't seem so brave now that the voice had gone, did I? Here I was, making false accusations at what was probably the scariest _human_ in town, and as stubborn as I was, I wouldn't give in. Neither would Monica. I couldn't see this ending well. Please, voice, I thought to myself shamefully, please come back.

"You might not go to prison for fraud," I heard myself say without thinking, "But when I can prove what you and your _boyfriend _did, I'll get you for it." I clasped a hand over my mouth. What. the. hell. What was I even talking about? I didn't even mean to say that. I don't understand, I can't even remember wanting to say anything at all.

Then I remembered. The voice. Well played, Voice, well played. I asked it to come back, and it did. Just in a slightly different form. Some part of me was worried as to why I had just be practically possessed by either an evil spirit or a voice in my head (neither were particually great options) but the other part of me drowned the logical part out. I was angry. I was literally shaking and clenching my fists. I'm not sure why.

Maybe I had no idea what I was talkin about, but Monica did. Hey expression went from anger, to shock, to horror, to sadness, to regret and back to burning red anger again. She sighed and breathed out deeply, as if she was a dragon about to blow fire at me. She scrunched her face and clenched her knuckles ferociously. I backed away slowly, mentally calculating how far I could get before she caught me. She almost turned away to storm away from me but changed her mind at the last second. She swung out with her clenched fist and punched me in the face.

I grabbed the side of my face instinctively. Damnit, my mouth was bleeding. I just hoped that she hadn't knocked out a tooth. I felt myself burn up. How dare she hit me, I thought, after everythin she did. I didn't even notice that my thoughts didn't make sense at that point. I just swung out blindly, and Monica hit back. Gina and Jennifer gasped, but stood back. I don't think that they'd even seen Monica that furious before, and they certainly had never seen me like that. She managed to pull me down onto the floor. I grabbed and hair and tugged, feeling a strange pleasure at hearing her screech. _That's for not fessing up, _I thought angrily. Or was it the voice? At that moment, we felt like one person working together.

_Get her in the stomach, Claire, _she told me. I did.

_Bang her head against the floor, Claire, _she told me. I did.

_Drag her across the gravel like a dead body, Claire, _she told me. I did. Well, tried at least. I was being pulled away from Monica, still hissing. That when I realised that I'd been so focused on hurting her that I hadn't noticed sirens wailing in the background or even Hannah, Richard and the whole crew turning up at the university. In fact, it wasn't until I was in the police car on the way to either the station or home - probably the first, not that I' thought to ask at all - that I noticed how out of character I'd acted and how I'd been planning on killing Monica.


	4. Chapter 4

"Claire Danvers?" One of the guards called my name, "Your friends are here to get you. You're free to leave,"

I didn't waste any time jumping up from my seat and rushing out of the cell. I looked behind me one last time before I left, glad to be escaping the depressing grey walls and bars. A security guard led me down a narrow passageway and I saw my roomates at the other side, crowding around a table.

We reached a room with a window. I couldn't help but peer through. Michael looked dishevelled and worn down, running his hand through his blonde hair that was currently spiking off in crazy directons. Eve looked worried and tired. Shane looked blank, but curious. They all looked up simultaneously as I walked into the room. They were being questionned by a police officer, I guessed. I watched Michael mutter something that I couldn't make out to the officer and they all stood up and came out towards me. Shane grabbed my hand roughly and pulled me out towards the car.

No one spoke until we were in the car and already a whole street away from the police station. Shane was still grabbing my hand as we sat in the back. Eve was in shotgun and Michael was driving. He ran a hand through his hair again and sighed, giving Eve a knowing glance. She returned it to him with a hint of anger.

"What the hell, Claire?" She asked angrily, turning around to glare at me. Her clenched fists gripping the seatbeat.

"What do you mean?" I asked, genuinally confused.

"Eve's right, Claire," Michael added, "You can't just pull stunts like that and expect there to not be consequences,"

"I was just sticking up for myself!" I argued. Michael made a frustrated shrugging gesture at Eve who did the same. Shane just turned away from, staring blankly out of the car window at the sun which was orange in the setting sky.

"You know what Monica's like, Claire! You could have been arrested!" Eve complained, sounding tired and worn out.

"But I wasn't, so it's okay!" I whined, cringing at how young and bratty I sounded. Ugh.

"Only because she dropped charges!" Michael replied, clenching his hands onto the steering wheel. His voice was raised slightly.

It took a few seconds for the reality of the situation to set in. Monica, as in Monica Morrell, had agreed not to charge. I wondered why she would do that. Did she geniunally feel sorry for me? I almost chuckled. It was Monica, of course not. Why then? Did she want to play the kind little victim card? Could she not be bothered with going to court? Maybe it was too much work. Then it hit me.

_When I can prove what you and your boyfriend did, I'll get you for it._

That's what I'd said, although, I don't remember making the concsious decision to say it. But when I did, Monica freaked out. It must be important to her, for some reason. What had she done that was so bad that she would react like that? Is that why she dropped charges? Because she was scared I would tell them whatever she had done? Because she was hoping that she could somehow bribe me into not telling anyone? I had no idea...

"Why did you do it?" Eve asked me suddenly, tearing me out of my thoughts.

"Uh-" I stuttered, then decided to just be honest. They were my friends, they wouldn't judge me, "There was a voice in my that told me what to do."

There a few aching moments of silence. My heart pounded nervously, scared that they would pull over, turn around and take me to the mental hospital, if Morganville even had one, that is. I tried to take steady breaths. I instantly regretted telling them.

Suddenly, everyone burst out into laughter. I had to double take to make sure that I was hearing them right. Were they seriously laughing at something as important as that? But then again, when someone tells you they hear voices in their head, how else would you react. I felt my cheeks go bright red and I forced out a laugh, so I wouldn't seem strange. I should never have told them.

"Voices in her head..." Eve muttered almost incoherently between hysterical laughing. I smiled at her, making it look as geniune as possible.

There was no more talk about my arrest after that. We all talked about our days and funny things that had happened to us. We talked about where to get dinner - Eve wanted Chinese, Michael wanted McDonalds - since it was too late now to cook anything. Shane was starngely quiet, still staring out of the window. He must be upset or angry. He would have jumped at the chance to offer his opinion on food otherwise.

We finally pulled up at the Glass House and Michael let me, Eve and Shane in and then went back out to get some food. I went straight up to my room, changing out of my blood-stained outfit and into a pair of pink jogging bottom and a white shirt. Literally as soon as I was changed, there was a knock on the door. I swung it open, expecting it to be Michael with the food. I was pleasantly surprised.

Shane leaned against the doorframe, his dark hair flopping easily over his eyes, "Can I come in?" he asked.

I nodded immediatley and he gave me a smile. He shut the door behind him and threw himself down onto the bed, lying for for a couple seconds before sitting up and look at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey," He said.

"Hey?" I replied cautiously. I thought he was angry at me? Wasn't he coming in to lecture me about how dangerous Monica was and why I had to stay away?

"What's up?" He asked, concerned. He stood up and came over to me, brushing my hair behind my ear gently. Well, he obviously wasn't angry anymore.

"I thought you were coming to lecture me..." I muttered sheepishly.

He looked shocked, "Lecture _you_? Why would I lecture _you_?" I shook my head and looked down, so he continued, "You were just defending yourself, and so you should, that girl is trouble"

"I dunno," I started, small tears in my eyes "I just feel like you guys were angry at me," He pulled me into his chest for a hug. I rested my head against him and he stroked me hair.

"We couldn't be _angry _at you, Claire," He soothed lovingly, "Sure, Michael and Eve were annoyed at first but they don't know what it's like to be hurt by Monica like you and I do,"

I lifted my head up and looked at him, "You mean Alyssa?" As I said that, the room started to spin and I felt woozy and nauseaus.

"Whatever you did to Monica, she desevered it," He confirmed.

I nodded weakly, scared to move my head to much in case I fainted again. I took deep breaths, concentrating on the in and out bit. I could hear Shane wrapping his arms around me to support me, asking if I was okay and calling for Eve and Michael when he figured that I wasn't. The last thing I heard were pounding, rushed footsteps up the stairs and the last thing I saw were my roommates bursting into the room before I drifted away.


	5. Chapter 5

_Suddenly, I was standing in the woods. What the hell? How did I get here? One minute, I was laying in Shane's warm arms and the next, I was here: wherever here was. I looked around, trying to figure out where I was. The sun was a burning orange and the grass was a dying yellow and brown. There were trees, endless miles of them. Row after row of trees. Woods! I must be somewhere in the woods. _

_I heard a branch snap behind me and I span around quickly, trying to figure out what it was. My heart rate was racing, but somehow, I was strangely calm. My head throbbed with thoughts and feelings trying to break through but there was some kind of mental barrier holding them back._

_"Damnit, wrong way," I heard someone whisper under their breath. Their voice was melodic and sweet, so I figured it was a girl. She was just coming into my horizon now and I squinted to get a better view of her. She was wearing a flowing white top with plain denim skinny jeans. She had onbrown cowboy boots and her hair was free and full of wild curls that kept blowing in her face. She was carrying school books, lots of advanced classes from what I could tell. I recognized her although I couldn't remember where I'd seen her face before. She smiled when she saw me, and I knew that she recognized me. She skipped and ran over to me with a childlike innocence._

_"Hey, J-" She smiled at me brightly. Why was she calling me J? My name was Claire, wasn't it? Then I started to panic. What if this was another one of those flashbacks where I leave my body and go into someone elses? _

_Without meaning to, I reached towards her. I wasn't in control of my body, once again. What the hell was I reaching out at her for? My mind felt hazy and painful as she dodged my reach. She started to run for I ran after her grabbing the back of her shirt and pulling her towards me. I tackled her to the ground and grabbed her neck, snapping it with a swift ease and a sicknening crunch._

_Then I heard 'myself' gasp as I fell to ground beside her. The haze and pain had disappeared but a guilty ache in my chest took its place. I put my hands to the girls neck and checked for a pulse. There wasn't one, she was dead. I stared at her for a few seconds in shock and disgust before involuntarily wiping my eyes and finding my grey sleeves wet and stained red. I started to shake and I realised how tight I'd been clenching my knuckles. I looked down and found a piece of flowly white material stuck to my hand. _

_I jumped to my feet and grabbed the girl's body, throwing it over my shoulder. I didn't look at her, I trained my mind to focus solely on getting rid of any evidence. I couldn't go to prison. I didn't mean to kill her._

_As I walked away, a peice of paper flew out of the girls pocket and onto the floor. It was some kind of note but I didn't read it. I didn't get the chance. I was to shocked at what I could see._

_It was only 13 letters and 2 words, but they stopped my heart more than anything else I'd read in my life, because written on the top of the paper was a name. One name in particular._

_ALYSSA COLLINS._

"Claire? Sweetie, can you hear me?" I heard Eve ask, carefully. There was a breeze on my face and the world was spinning slowly, still fading out of the vision.

"Ugh," I groaned. I took a deep breath and tried to sit up. Eve pushed me back down gently, but enough to know that she meant business. She started fanning me again and I felt another set of hands feeling my head for a temperature.

"I think she's okay now," I heard Michael say "Let's get her onto the bed,"

Shane appeared beside me and put his hands around my waist, gently pulling me to my feet. I swayed a little bit but after a second or two, I steadied myself and let my friend lead me to the bed. I sat down and put my head in my hands. Shane sat down next to me, wrapping his arm around me to make sure I wouldn't fall. Eve sat on the other side, still fanning me and Michael leaned against the wall.

"What happened?" I asked groggily.

"You passed out on me," Shane told me softly. Oh yeah. That. In the choas of me watching Alyssa's murder happen in my head, I'd forgotten that I'd fainted.

"Oh, sorry," I mumbled disorientently, making my room mates chuckle at me apologising for passing out.

Then I gasped as a crazy thought entered my head. I'd just watched Alyssa be murdered, but as far as Shane knew, she died in the fire. Somehow there was a gap. Was the fire a cover up for whoever really killed Alyssa? Was it all just a way of making sure that they weren't discovered. Did Molly know? What if that's what she kept trying to tell Shane and Frank in her final days?

"I need air," I gasped as I ran to the bathroom. Even Michael couldn't keep up with me as I raced in and locked the door behind me. I could hear them knocking on the door but I just ignored it. I rap the tap on full and knelt down weakly beside the toilet. The world was spinning again and I started to dry heave, convinced I was about to vomit.

"Baby, are you okay?" I heard Shane shout throw the door.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Dry heave, "I'm just... Brushing my teeth," I vomited but it didn't rid my stomach of the dirty feeling all over my body. I knew more about Alyssa's death then her own boyfriend. Is that why Alyssa picked me? Because I could see something that no one else could? Was she sending me the visions?

After a few moments, I stood up and looked at my reflection in the mirror. I looked pale, I had bags under my eyes and I seemed thinner and weaker than usual. I could understand why my friends were so worried about my health.

Suddenly, my reflection distored. My skin went from a deathly pale to a lively olive tone and my hair became darker and wilder. My eyes were still brown but even _they_ changed shape. Within seconds, I realised that I was no longer staring at myself, but Alyssa. Usually, I would have been terrified but right now, I didn't have the energy to be afraid of seeing someone else's face in the mirror.

"You hold the key," She said to me and I nodded, finally understanding what she wanted me to do. I had to find her killer and get Alyssa justice, one way or another. She gave me a crooked smile and started fading, and I could feel my energy fading with her. I leaned against the sink and started sobbing gently.

"Claire!" Shane called through the door. Banging and kicking on it loudly.

"Claire, you are _not _fine. Just let me in!"

"Damnit, Claire! Open the damn door!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the slow updates :( School has been so busy and it's so hard to write when I have so much homework and stuff. Forgive me?**

I wake up slumped against the bathroom with a throbbing in my back and neck. I twitched my back slightly and my aching bones clicked from being in an awkward position all night. Then I started to panic. I couldn't see anything. Why couldn't I see anything? Then I remembered that I'd fallen asleep, and that it was probably night time right now.

I slid myself gently against the wall, straightening out my back and clenching my shoulders. I reach up and pull the cord to turn the bathroom light on.

Everything is red. I panic for a second, gazing around wildly, trying to figure it out. I blink.

And it's gone.

I sigh and put a hand to my neck, massaging it softly. I swing open the bathroom door and nearly fall over Shane, who's lying asleep on the floor right outside the door. My heart swells with guilt. He must have been waiting for me all night. Now he's going to have a sore back too. I stare down at him, thinking for a few seconds. He's too heavy for me to lift, so I get down on my hands and knees and straighten him out. I take my jacket off and put it under his head and give him a slight kiss to let him know that I'm not upset any more.

I tiptoed downstairs, hoping that I wouldn't wake Michael up. I head out into the kitchen and grab a glass of water and a paracetamol tablet to soothe my neck. I leant gently against the cabinet as I drunk it before pouring the last of it down the drain. I start to head back upstairs, passing the front door. I was on the bottom step when I paused. Something was different. I spun around slowly to look back down at the hallway.

I was right. Something _was _different. The porch light outside was on, splaying light through the top windows into the hall. For a second, I squinted my eyes and glared at it, trying to figure out who had left it on. Wait.. It was motion-activated. That meant one thing...

The doorbell rang shrilly, cutting through the dead silence like a whet knife. I almost wished that I had woken Michael or Shane or Eve up when I came downstairs, just so I wouldn't be down here alone with... Whoever it was.

I dropped to the floor at the bottom of the stairs, hoping that whoever was out there didn't realise that I was awake and try to break in. I crawled hands and knees to grab the knife off of the table where the keys and mail were kept. We'd all laughed at Eve when she suggested leaving a weapon there, but now I was prepared to worship her for it.

I crept up to the door slowly and the doorbell rang again. I tried to slowly work my way up to look through the peep hole when a hand shot through the doorbell.

I screamed and jumped back a few feet, my eyes glued on the small hand poking through my letter box. The fingers were bony and fragile and his or her nails were buried with dirt. I raised my knife up in front of me and eased back towards the door. I heard muffled voices and in the corner of my eye, I saw a light turning on upstairs. I ignored it, focusing solely on the stranger with a hand through my letterbox.

It waved at me, "Claire! Open the door, it's me," I was about the retort that I had no idea who 'me' was I realised that I did know. Miranda.

I sighed in relief, "Dammit, Miranda, take your hand out my letter box then,"

She obliged and I began to unbolt the door, feeling my heart rate settle and my tensed muscles relax. Miranda began to whisper to me through the door, "I'm sorry that it's so late, I just had to talk to you,"

"I'm not worried about the time," I told her firmly, hearing Michael appear at the top of the stairs, "What the hell are you doing out in the middle of the night when a vampire could get you?"

"I had a vision about you-know-who," She gasped, "I had to warn you,"

I froze. Was Miranda seeing Alyssa too? What had she seen? What else did she know? I stared at the young, doe-eyed girl standing in front of me. Taking in her messy appearance: baggy, oversized clothes; greasy, unkempt hair; mud-ridden hands and purple rims under her eyes. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have believed a word she said. Miranda wasn't the best known for her sound advice and clear instructions and a week ago, I would have told you that 'premonitions' (flashbacks, more like) were about as real as the tooth fairy and the easter bunny.

But now everything had changed. Now, a vision could change everything. And if Miranda had figured something out or seen something I'd missed, I had to know.

"Tell me." I said firmly, my voice hard and unshaken.

Miranda smiled gently, happy that finally, we were taking notice of what she was saying, "Some close to you hold the key,"

"Some close to me holds the key?" I repeated, and Miranda nodded reassuring me that I'd gotten it right. She turned as to run away.

"Wait!" I called after her, "Who?"

"I've already told you more than I should, you know the answer,"

"I don't! Wait, Miranda! Don't go out there on your own, their could be vamp-" She was already gone. I shut the door once more, double checking the lock this time. I turned to face my friends who were crowded on the landing, staring down at me.

"What was that?" Michael asked, a touch of annoyance in his voice.

"I have no idea," I murmured.

"It looks like you did," He snapped.

Eve rested a hand on his shoulder, "Miranda's a little crazy, you know that. It's probably nothing babe." Her voice was shaky but desperate.

Michael relaxed a little then nodded towards me, "Get some sleep Claire,"

I nodded back at him and he turned on his heels, heading back to his room. Eve followed. She stalked away then turned towards me one last time. She wore a smile on her face, but I could see the cogs turning in her head. Her eyes were sad with an undertone of fear. Fear? Why was she afraid.

Then it hit me. Eve was the key all along.


	7. Chapter 7

I managed to get back upstairs to bed. I wasn't sure it the uneasiness was from shock, exhaustion or the fact that I am apparently now a ghost whisperer in charge of finding out who killed my boyfriend's sister. I tossed and turned, trying to fall asleep but sleep just wasn't happening for me. Finally, I decided that I might as well get something done, rather than just lie there and stare blankly at the ceiling.

I swung under the bed and grabbed a notebook from the floor then rummaged blindly through the adjacent set of draws to find a pen. Then I switched on the bedside light, giving the a misty orange glow. I leant back and sighed, flicking the notebook open to the first blank page.

I wrote the word 'Alyssa' in the middle and drew a bubble cloud around it. Coming away from it were the words 'Fire', 'Eve', 'Murder'. I tapped the paper with the end of my pen as I tried to find something to write. Honestly, I didn't actually know that much about Alyssa's death at all.

"Start with murder, I guess," I muttered out loud to myself and my sleep deprived brain resisted the need to laugh at how odd that sentence would have sounded to a someone who didn't know what was going on.

I drew a line from the word murder and cast my mind back to the vision where Alyssa was walking home and tried to remember something. She said the name 'J', didn't she? So whoever killed her, his name started with J. Then I remembered my first vision ever and I remember how I was in the supposed killer's body and how he/she was terrified but couldn't remember actually killing someone. Were they possessed? Drunk? High? Something like that I'm guessing. I drew a line from 'J' and added that on.

I started with Eve next. She'd seemed really scared when I was told 'someone close to me hold the key'. I'm guessing that she knows more about Alyssa's death than she's letting on then. I wrote that down and then tapped the pen against the paper. I wrote 'cover up' underneath 'fire' and then leant back. I almost felt silly. All those visions I'd been having and I still somehow had next to no information about Alyssa's death.

Wait! The visions... I can't believe I was even thinking this, but I could actually use a vision right now. I needed answers. Could I control the visions? If I thought hard enough, could I force them?

As I did that, I felt a niggle at the back of my brain. _Gotcha, _I though to myself. All I had to do was picture the vision as a box, and concentrate on opening it. I did, and as the box flung open, I felt myself falling. Falllinggg... Fallllllinnnnn-

_Two kids were playing on a meadow. Or was it a graveyard? Everything was fuzzy. Then I focused in on the children, they were both somewhere around 8 or 9ish, although the girl was slightly taller. She wore pink jeans with a stripd orange t-shirt and the boy wore a grey jumper with black pants. All in all, they looked like they came from a happy, respectable family._

_"Hurry up, Evie," The little boy laughed, racing ahead of his sister._

_"Call me Evie again and I'll rip your head off," The little girl shrieked from behind him. Wait. Evie. Eve. Then it all clicked. The little girl was Eve, and that meant that the boy was Jason aka 'J'. _

_Eve ran after him full speed, arms reaching out, obviously trying to 'tag' him. I almost laughed at the innocence of the pair (and Eve's pink pants), then sighed. This was before all the Brandon stuff, and before Jason went to prison. They were both young, and happy, and free. _

_Eve ran and splashed into a puddle, sending a wave of dirt at Jason. The young boy screamed slightly, brown goo covering his face and Eve stared at him anxiously, obviously trying to figure out if he was angry or not. _

_Then the picture started to distort. The soft greens and yellows of the meadow behind them quickly morphed into the brown and red of someone's hallway. The two kids changed too, turning into teenagers in front of my eyes. However, the change that hit me was the brown mud on Jason's face quickly mutated into rivers of blood drowning his face as his sullen eyes stared back at post-Goth-transformation Eve._

_"I've been waiting forever for you," Eve called, "What the hell happened?"_

_"It's not mine," Jason said blankly, wiping some blood of his eyes and brushing red tinted, matted hair away as if it was a normal gesture._

_"Who's?" Eve asked simply._

_"Don't freak out," Jason started, but his voice broke slightly as if he was about to burst into tears, "I killed someone,"_

_Eve gasped, looking horrified and Jason continued, his words coming out in one quick, long string as if he was desperate to explain himself before Eve hated him, "I don't remember doing it. I've been having strange dreams for ages and I had another one tonight, but when I woke up, she was lying there covered in blood and I knew I'd done it but I didn't mean to, Eve. I really didn't!"_

_Eve looked around like she didn't know what to do then gave me a hug. A few fat tears ran down Jason's face, he'd really meant what he said. He hadn't meant to hurt the girl. As Eve pulled out of the hug, she noticed that she had specks of blood on her black pyjamas and let out a soft breath. _

_"Go get changed, I'll clean your clothes" Eve said and Jason nodded and started heading upstairs. He hesitated for a second, turning back to look at his sister. Eve nodded, but placed a finger to her lips and pointed to upstairs. Assumably, telling him not to wake their parents. _

_Eve watched him go upstairs then walked into the kitchen and pulled out a chair. Slumping down into it. She twisted a glass of what looked like strong liquor in her hands for a few seconds, then tilted her head back suddenly, downing it. She hit the bottom of the glass onto the table and her shaking hands found themselves picking up an old phone and pressing a few buttons. She slammed the phone down and dropped her head into her hands, sobbing quietly. _

_She looked terrified, and so young. How old was she now? 15? 16? About the same age as I was when I came to Morganville, I guessed. I just wanted to run up to her and hug her. _

_Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. I wondered who it was, but Eve seemed to know. She raced straight to the door, gave a quick check through the peep hole then swung it open, flashing a relieved smile at whoever it was. I suspected that it would be Michael, or even Shane that she was smiling at._

_I couldn't contain my gasp of horror as I saw who was standing there, and hugging Eve. Because, leaning against the door in all her furry jacketed, bright pink glory was Monica Morrell._

**Ugh. I don't know how to feel about this chapter. I do feel like we needed a re-cap but I also wonder if the plot is moving too fast? Please review and let me know how you feel.**


	8. Chapter 8

_I awoke with a start, fumbling around in the dark. I sat up quickly and peered around. It was pitch black now, someone must have turned the light out whilst I was... Where ever I was. My heart was pounding now, shoving adrenaline around in my veins.I took a deep breath, it wasn't real. Well, it was, but I was safe now._

_Somehow, even though I tried weakly to convince myself I was safe now, something was niggling at the bottom of my min, telling me to run. To run and never come back. I stood up, my legs wobbly and weak. I felt cogs in my brain turning, the fight or flight mode kicking in._

_I swung open the door and ran out into the hall, slamming my door shut behind me. Surely, my friends would hear it and wake up? No such luck. I felt up and down the wall, searching manically for the light switch. It's here! I know it is! I carried on looking for it, letting my hands lead me blindly down the wall a little. Maybe a little to left? Yes, that was it. Just a bit further. Bingo, I found the light._

_The lights flickered for a second, taking a while to eventually illuminate the hall. Then I realised why I couldn't find the switch. I wasn't home at all. I had no idea where I was (although, I admit that it looked strikingly familiar to something I'd seen before) and I had no idea what I was doing here. _

_I closed my eyes slowly, then re-opened them again. This was another vision. It had to be, there was no other reasonable explanation. Damn you, Alyssa. Then it hit me that I had no idea whose body I was in this time. I looked down. I was wearing my pyjamas and my hair was about the right length. Maybe I was me this time._

_I tiptoed across the hall to one of the rooms. I peered inside slowly. Two people were sleeping in there. A couple, or at least that's how it seemed. One of them, the man, rolled over and snored loudly before, yawning and attempting to sit up. I panicked and shut the door as quickly as I could without waking everyone up. I slumped down against the wall and listened intently, trying to figure out if I had woken him up. I heard a few heavy footsteps before the bed springs creaked and I gave a sigh of relief: he'd gone back to sleep. I'd have to be more careful next time._

_I leaned over to the next door and checked inside that one. It was a bathroom, nothing special. A little run down, maybe, but all in all, nothing exciting. _

_I swung open the door next to it. This one looked like another bedroom. My hand found it way onto the light switch and the room was lit up suddenly. I walked around the room, taking everything in. It was painted in two shades of pink and it was messy. The drawers were broken with socks and clothes pouring out it and the TV was old too, 10 years older than me at least. The bed was unmade and there were slippers left to the side of it. _

_I walked over to the desk, trying to see if there was any clues. There was a football trophy and some school supplies. There was paper scattered all over the desk, drawing of random still life. I picked a few up and turned them over, looking at them. Whoever drew them was quite talented. Not that it helped much at figuring out who the mystery person was._

_Then I saw a yellow piece of card in the corner: a certificate of some sort. Eureka! I flipped it over and gasped at the name written. ALYSSA. It all made sense. This was Alyssa's room and the couple in the bedroom were Frank and Molly. That meant that somewhere around here, was Shane... _

_I stared down at the certificate for a while. It was for some sort of achievement at art. Based of the pictures I'd seen on the desk, it made sense. Alyssa had been quite talented. Then I was overcome with sadness. It was such a shame, she'd seemed so sweet and beautiful. But she was dead now. I was in a dead girls room. I shivered a little at that, but didn't leave. Instead, I replaced the yellow card with a photo from Alyssa's desk. It was a photo of a girl and a boy, both very young. The boy, Shane I guessed, had his arm around who I assumed was Alyssa. They were both smiling widely. I almost sighed at their innocence. Shane must have been 4 or 5 and Alyssa, a little younger, but their smiles were genuine and their eyes shone with purity and faith that was still untouched by the world._

_I was dragged out of my thoughts by the rumble of an engine coming down the street. My head snapped up immediately and I walked over to the window to see a black, relatively old car coming down the road. Then I realised that this was 5 or 6 years ago now, that car would have been new back then. _

_Then it clicked. I knew who it was coming down the road. It had to be Monica Morrell. She was one of the only people in Morganville who could both afford and import the latest car into town. What was Monica doing here? Then I remembered the last vision: Jason admitting to Eve that he'd killed Alyssa, Monica standing in the door. _

_I raced downstairs and swung the door open, standing in the middle, watching as Monica pulled up and ran to the back of the car. Eve jumped out of the passenger side and did the same. They both flung the boot open and began hauling a black bag out. I shivered as I realised that it was Alyssa's body._

_My eyes turned back to the car. The inside light was open, illuminating a face. I squinted to get a look at it. Jason. He was sitting in the back of the car, perched between the two front seats. He was glaring at me in horror, his face still mortified and tortured from the knowledge of what he had done. _

_"Eve!" He called and I watched as my friend instantly dropped the back and ran to his side. Monica sighed and rolled her eyes as she was left holding a body bag by herself. I almost laughed in spite of myself at that sentence._

_"What, Jason?" Eve asked frantically, and I wondered if she was nervous. She was assumably going to dump Alyssa's body at her own friend's house, she should be nervous. What she was doing was very risky, and unthoughtful. The horrifying thought hit me. All the times that Shane had talked about Alyssa in front of her. In front of us all... All that time, and Eve had known she had been murdered, and she never told anyone. I began to shake with rage. She called herself a 'friend'? Yeah, some friend she was..._

_"Who's that girl in the doorway?" Jason asked. Both Eve and Monica's head snapped up into my direction. I gasped. They would see me, wouldn't they? Would this change things when I eventually snapped out of my vision? What did this mean?_

_"There's no girl there, J," Monica said and I wanted to puke in my mouth at her use of the nickname 'J'. What was going on with those two anyway? I didn't think crazy psycho killer was Monica's type. Scratch that, of course he's her type: they're a perfect match._

_"Then who opened the door?" Eve and Monica both looked away from Jason stared blankly at me for a few seconds. They were more looking through me, rather than at me. That's when I realised that in this situation, I was a ghost. Neither of them could see me, only Jason._

_That's when I felt my anger at him slowly drain away. We were the same, him and I. We both had 'extra capabilities'. I guess it's a gift, but neither of us asked for it, did we? He claimed he was possessed when he killed Alyssa. Maybe he was telling the truth. _

_"I dunno? The wind, maybe?" Monica retorted, her usual sassiness back in her voice, "All the better for us, anyway. Are we going to just stand here or are we going to dump the body some time tonight? It's dangerous enough being out here at this time anyway, forget sitting around chatting. We have work to do,"_

_Eve gave her a death glare but then dropped it, realising that Monica was probably right. She wordlessly picked up the bag and carried on pulling it into the house. Is stepped aside as the came in, even though I knew they could walk right through me anyway. They dumped the body bag at the bottom of the stairs and Monica ran back out to the car, probably to get something._

_I stood face to face with Eve, staring at her face. I wondered if I would recognize her anymore, knowing how she'd betrayed Shane. She shivered and wrapped her cardigan around her tighter. She looked behind her nervously, checking for Monica. She threw a quick glance to Alyssa's body then tore it away quickly. Then she looked up stairs, to what was probably Shane's room._

_A tear fell down her cheek, "I'm so sorry, Shane, but I didn't know what else to do..."_

**This is the longest vision I've ever written for this chapter, and probably one of the longest chapters I've ever written at all. Consider it a make up present considering I haven't updated for so long, whoops! Anywho, let me know what you thought by reviewing and following/favouriting if you so please :P**


	9. Chapter 9

**Ugh, sorry if the italics are hard to read! I didn't expect the flashback to last so long... This is quite an achievement for me :) Two chapters of this story in one day?! Lucky you ;)**

_Monica rushes in holding a small can in one hand and a lighter in the other. She stops dead in her tracks when she sees Eve's tear._

_"What the hell are you crying for?" Monica hisses._

_"What the hell am I crying for?" Eve repeats angrily, "My brother killed one of my best friend's sister, that's why! How can you be so calm about this?"_

_"I've always hated Shane, you know that," _

_"Oh, well that makes it okay then," Eve muttered sarcastically, "Maybe we should just let the police handle this,"_

_Monica pushed Eve up against the wall, pinning her down easily. I knew Eve was strong enough to push her off, but she didn't, she just let Monica growl in her face, "Let the police handle this? Are you out of your mind? They'll stick him in a mental place. Are you going to choose your friend over your own brother," She hissed the word 'brother', making it clear that even if Eve wanted to tell, she couldn't._

_"No," Eve muttered, her tears falling freely now._

_"Then let's do this," Monica said before turning to the body bag. A noise came from upstairs, making both girls jump, "Before they wake up,"_

_Eve nodded and wiped away her tears. Monica thrust the lighter into Eve's waiting hands and began to pour gasoline all over the body bang and around the hallway. She wasn't taking any chances, I noticed, she was making sure that she hit every spot. I shouldn't have been surprised, though. Richard was police chief at this point, of course Monica would know how to get away with murder. She hadn't changed at all._

_When she was done, Monica turned and nodded to Eve who took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself. Then she flicked the lighter on and threw it onto the body bag, watching as it burst into flames. _

_"Come on, let's go," Monica announced, making a beeline for the door. Eve stayed glued to her spot, almost in a trance while staring at the fire. I stared into her blue eyes. They were full of regret and sadness, the flickers of flames reflecting in her irises. _

_Monica turned before she left and rolled her eyes at Eve, "Anytime today, Space Cadet!"_

_Eve nodded and turned to follow Monica. As leaned to shut the front door and enclose the fire, she smiled sadly and mouthed 2 words into the now blazing fire, "Goodbye Alyssa,"_

I screamed and bolted upright. I was in a cold sweat and I was shaking. I felt around my surrounding and breathed a sigh of relief when I realised that I was home. I was in my own bed and my friends were near by. I was in my own body for sure, and I was safe now. The visions were, hopefully, over now.

"Claire?" A voice near to me soothed, "You're okay, calm down,"

My head snapped in the general direction of the voice and I was shocked to see all 3 of my friends kneeling down besides the bed, staring at me. I blushed a little, embarrassed that they all probably saw my reaction to the nightmare/vision.

Michael pressed a hand too my forehead, "She's burning up. It must have been pretty bad, she's still in shock,"

I was in shock? I didn't know that I was, but then again, I was sitting there with my mouth gaping open and breathing heavily like I'd just ran a marathon so that conclusion was understandable, at least. I put my head in my hands and brought my knees up to my chest. I curled up in a ball for a few seconds, and I felt Shane's rough, but gentle, hands rubbing my back in an attempt to calm me down.

My whole body ached now, and I wondered what I'd be doing while I was in the visions to make my muscles hurt so bad. I stretched out, testing each muscles carefully, before concluding that it wasn't _that _bad, after all. One thing that stood out though was the pain on my arms. For some reason, my arms were stinging like hell. I rolled my sleeves up and turned my arms over so I could see if I had any visible reason that they were hurting so badly.

I heard my friends horrified gasps before I truly processed what had happened. I stared numbly at my arms, until it all sank in. Dotted up and down my arms, like patterns, were countless amounts of burns. No wonder my arms burns were all still bright red and peeling. New ones, I noted, they couldn't have been done that long ago. It must have been the last 12 hours, at least. I shivered at the thought. They hadn't been there when I fell asleep, so that meant...

I was burned in the fire.

I gasped as a thousand thoughts raced around my head at first. I'd been all to happy to plunge into these visions, I'd been under the impression that I was safe. Well, as safe as you can be when going into the past to watch your potential sister-in-law get murdered. I'd never been hurt before. This time had been different. The aching muscles, the burns... Then I remembered the first night I ever saw Alyssa and how she'd grabbed my shoulders and rocked me back and forth. Now, there was more than my sanity at stake. I was starting to fear for my life.

Then I had a thought that changed everything.

In the vision, Eve and Monica hadn't been able to see me. But Jason had. I'd been a ghost in the dream and he'd been able to see me. I thought about how I could see Alyssa and how I had obviously been doing something throughout the night that I didn't know about.

Was this how it started for Jason? Did it start innocently enough for him too? Did he see ghosts of people he thought wouldn't hurt him? Then he started getting hurt and it all escalated until he killed Alyssa. Would I eventually kill someone too?

_Why are these visions coming to me_, I though to myself, _why me?_

Then it clicked and I felt goosebumps up and down my spine. I can't believe I never figured it out before. The reason I could see ghosts was because...

I was one too.


	10. Chapter 10

I just lay there in shock. It all made sense now, though. I finally understood why I had been the only one who could see Alyssa that first night. My friends hadn't been able to see her, but I had. I wasn't just going crazy, well maybe I was, but at least now there was a plausible explanation to it all. I didn't know whether to jump for joy and break down in tears.

I was shaken from my thoughts by someone grabbing my arms and talking to me. I was clicked out of my trance to find Eve standing in front of me, holding my burnt arms and staring at them. I looked over to Michael and Shane. Their expressions mirrored Eve's.

"What the hell?" Eve asked, staring at my arms, "Did you do that yourself?"

I looked up her with my mouth gaping open, "No, Eve, I swear I never! I don't know how they got there,"

Both Eve and Shane stared right at blankly. Neither of them could think of what to say? I couldn't exactly blame them. What did one say when they're friend/girlfriend woke up with extensive burns covering her arms then claimed she has no idea how they got there. It's not exactly like their was a handbook or anything, was there?

"Eve," Michael ordered, "go and get an ice pack to put on her arms. Shane, go downstairs and get her something sugary, I don't want her to go into shock anymore than she already is,"

They both nodded and headed downstairs straight away. Shane gave me one last concerned glance, his face pale and worried. I couldn't help but wonder how bad I looked. I must have looked terrible to cause a reaction like that. I peered into the mirror from across the room and gasped, I was pale and shaking. I looked like... Well, a ghost. No wonder they were scared.

Michael watched Eve and Shane leave and when they had left, he grabbed my arms gently, inspecting them, then turned to be, "How did you get them, Claire? Honestly."

"I... I don't know!"

"I can hear your heartbeat so I know when you're lying you know,"

"I don't know what happened, Michael. I'm as confused as you guys right now!" I snapped. Michael raised an eyebrow at him but I met hm with a determined stare. After a few seconds, he seemed to accept that I was telling the truth and dropped the glare. Concern, but relief ran over his face. He let go of my arms and sighed.

It was silent for a few seconds, until I spoke, "Michael? What happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"How did you guys know there was something wrong with me? Did I wake you all up?"

He sighed and turned to face me, "At first, you were talking in your sleep. You were talking about Eve and Jason at first then you started screaming for Shane to wake up. Then you stopped. Then-" he paused, obviously not wanting to continue.

"What then, Michael?" he turned away from me, so I grabbed his shoulder and turned his to face me, "What happened? Tell me."

"It was just really weird. You were so still, and quiet. We weren't even sure you were still breathing. Then you turned and stood up and walked towards the wall. You started banging your head and then you just collapsed. We got you onto the bed and then you were thrashing and throwing yourself around. Then you woke up."

I took a sharp breath in. That hadn't been me, surely. I would remember something like that, or I would have at least woke myself up, right? I wasn't so sure. None of my visions had ever been so _physical _before. First, the burns, and now, I was banging my head against the wall and screaming while I was asleep. This wasn't right. What would happen next? Death? Murder? Would I kill someone like Jason? No, I had to stop these vision. Maybe if I ignored them, they would go away. Even as I thought that however, I knew that wouldn't happen somehow. I was in too deep now.

Suddenly, a fire alarm starting blazing through out the house. I jumped up immediately, fight or flight kicking in. What was it now? Was there a fire here too? Were my visions premonitions of some kind of attack or accident in the Glass House. What was going on.

Michael put his hands heavily on my shoulders, stopping me from running, "Calm down, Shane probably burnt the toast. I'll go check it out before he wakes the neighbours, okay?"

I nodded blankly and sat down on the bed. Michael left and I put my head in my hands. Even though, I knew that logically, Michael was probably right, I couldn't shake the fear that something was about to go wrong. Badly wrong. I shivered, adrenaline rushing through my veins as I started to panic.

I could feel something pounding at the back of my head like a prisoner stuck in a cage, trying to break free. Every throb came with a stronger urgency. _Let go, _it told me. I wanted to... No! This was Alyssa, not me. She was trying to get into my head, to take over. I could feel her inside, worming around under my skin. I had to stay strong. I couldn't let her win. If I did then-

Then nothing. I felt nothing. Everything was calm. Everything was okay. Suddenly, I knew how to fix everything: I knew what I had to do. Everything happened for a reason. I leant over to the other side of the bed and slipped my hand under the mattress, reaching for what I knew was there. I rummaged around for a few seconds before gripping it and tugging.

I stared wide eyed at the knife in my hands. Then I smiled uncharacteristically. This would be fun.

**Oooh, what's going on with her then? Any guess at what 'Claire' will do next? Please review and let me know :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**I hardly ever switch POV's in my story but I felt like I should for this one. Hopefully, it won't be confusing. It's a bit of a filler chapter but you guys aren't going to find out what's going on with Claire that easy :p**

Shane's POV-

"You're pressing the wrong button, Man! It's not going to work, just let me do it," I shouted to Michael over the wail of the fire alarm. I'd been getting Claire a glass of coke and some cookies when it had started blaring everywhere for no reason, hissing and screaming all over the house. We'd tried to turn it off, but it only seemed to get louder. It had probably woken up the neighbours by now.

I thought back to Claire. My girlfriend had woken us all up in the middle of the night, screaming and thrashing. She'd been having a nightmare, or at least, that's what she'd told us. I wanted to believe her, honestly, I did. I just couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with her.

It'd started a few weeks back, on the night that we'd celebrated the end of the draug. She'd been her usual, cheerful self all night but after everyone left, things got weird. We heard her scream from upstairs and when we ran upstairs, she was shaking in corner. Like she'd seen a ghost or something. We'd blamedalcohol poisoning, but the out of characters occurrences didn't end there.

She'd fought with Monica at the University, too. I could say that I was disappointed in her for getting a fist fight... But that would be a lie. I was extremely proud of her when she gave that bitch a good old left hook, Monica Morrell killed my sister. She deserved. Ithad been slightly unusual for Claire, she hated confrontation, and she hated violence even more, but it didn't surprise me that Claire had gotten sick of taking crap from Monica. Besides, who was I to tell her not to fight with her? I'd done it only a thousand times before.

Those two things weren't what worried me, though. I mean, of course, they did concern me, but they weren't the strangest things ever. The thing that worried me was all of her lost time. First we were visited in the middle of the night by Miranda, the young girl blurting something about Claire being betrayed by someone close to her before running off again. Then, some times, I'd sometimes find Claire staring blankly towards a wall in the middle of the night or we'd lose her for an hour or two while she was off in her own mind. The worst thing was that I didn't think that she'd even realised she was doing it. Or if she had, she hadn't told me. I couldn't decide which was worse.

And tonight... Those _burns. _She said that she didn't know how they got there. Eve and Michael don't believe her, but I do. After what I'd seen, I knew that it was possible that she burned herself somehow while sleep walking. Or maybe, someone burned _her. _Who knew what was going on?

I was shaken out of my thoughts by Michael stepping down from the stool to allow me to get up and take a look. I did, staring up the alarm, trying to figure out what what wrong with the box. My ears rang from the deafening noise and I scrunched up my face as I opened the alarm up and looked inside.

In the distance, I heard footsteps on the stairs. Probably Eve taking Claire's ice up to her, I thought flippantly and turned my thoughts back to the problem at hand. Aha, I thought to myself. One of the little buttons was pressed right down. All I had to do was fix it and the noise would stop.

"Pass me the screwdriver," I shouted down to Michael. He nodded and started fumbling around in the box. I looked over towards the door and could have sworn I saw someone walk past. I shook it off as Michael passed me the screwdriver. I fiddled around with the button for a few seconds, until it come loose and the incessant wailing stopped.

Michael and I simultaneously gave a sigh of relief. My ears still rang slightly from being so close to the alarm, but as silence filled the room, I relaxed slightly. Thank God it had stopped. I jumped down and nodded at Michael, who started putting the stool back under the stairs. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I wondered what had caused the alarm to go haywire in the first place. Alarms didn't do that unless someone planned it.

Quickly, I brushed those thoughts away. This was the Glass House, we'd know if someone had been in here. Besides, who broke into a house _just _to play with their fire alarm? I cast my mind back to my beautiful Claire. Was she okay? My thoughts were cut off by the sound of screams coming from the kitchen.

"Michael!" Eve screamed, desperation and fear showing through voice. I raced towards the sound of the screams instinctively and watched as Michael did the same, the stool getting thrown across the room onto it's back.

As we both appeared at the kitchen door, we both gasped at the same time at what we were seeing. I don't know what we were expecting, but it wasn't this. Never this.

Standing above Eve, holding a knife was Claire. Her eyes were wild and unrecognisable with fury. Eve was pressed against the counter looking terrified and confused. She wasn't the only one who was confused, I think we all were. Claire was trying to kill Eve, and she looked like she meant it too. I couldn't get the image of her eyes out my mind. She had such pretty eyes, chocolate brown, wise and loving. But these weren't her eyes, they were someone else's. They had to be. What had Eve done that was so awful that Claire wanted to kill her?

We didn't have time to think, as we watched Claire step forward towards Eve. Michael flinched and started running towards them both while I stood still, frozen in shock. I watched as the girl I loved went from someone I knew like the back of my hand to a crazed killer. How had this happened? What was going on?

I couldn't think any more, as with one swift movement, the knife came down.


End file.
